Cressingham Gardens: Cabinet decision

Yesterday (the 21st of March) the Council’s Cabinet met to discuss the proposed redevelopment of the Cressingham Gardens Estate and it resolved that option 5 will be taken forward.

This means:

A rebuilt estate where all existing council tenants get a new home that meets their needs, at council rent levels, with a lifetime tenancy – meaning no loss of social housing.

A rebuilt estate where all existing resident homeowners have a range of options for a new affordable home on the estate, keeping the community together.

158 extra homes, 47% of which will be affordable, including at least 27 extra family -sized homes at council rent making an important contribution to the Council’s goal of building more and better homes to deal with the housing crisis in Lambeth.

Some homes for private rent or sale would be built to help pay for the rebuilding of the estate at a time when there is no government money for new social housing.

I appreciate that this may be unwelcome news for some, but we want to work with residents to achieve the best outcomes for all.

What happens now?The decision does not mean that demolition will start soon as there is still a lot of detailed planning to do before any work can take place. We do not expect building work to start until sometime in 2018 at the earliest. As a result, there is no immediate need for you to move from your home.

As the Council’s Cabinet has decided that Cressingham Gardens will be redeveloped the Key Guarantees now apply. Closer to the time when residents will need to move the Council will be in touch with residents directly.

In the meantime the Council is holding a number of drop-in sessions the Rotunda on the following days:

What happens next?The next step is to select a team that will develop detailed plans for the estate and the Council wants residents to be involved in selecting that team. As a part of this we would expect that:

In late June there will be an exhibition where residents would be able to talk to and score the different teams bidding for the project;

In early July these teams would be interviewed by members of your Resident Engagement Panel along with Councillors and Council officers;

And that the Council would announce the successful team in September.

We will be in touch again shortly when we have confirmed these timings.

Council tenants living on Cressingham GardensIn due course, the Decant Team will write to you with an appointment to carry out a housing needs survey. This information will be used to help in the design of the new homes that will be built on the estate.

Resident homeowners living on Cressingham GardensYou may also find it useful to view the financial options that you have. You can do this by going to:

On this link, you will find information on your options to remain on the estate and details of a number of independent financial advisors. The Council has briefed these advisors about the Estate Regeneration programme and has arranged for your initial confidential consultation to be free of charge.